MATTHEW 27:62-66 BURIED

Written by , Rector of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia
 

⁶² The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. ⁶³ “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ ⁶⁴ So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”
⁶⁵ “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” ⁶⁶ So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

It is always better to keep Jesus somewhere safe than have him going about meddling in our lives, or worse. People tend to lock up whatever it is that we cannot control in order to avoid the danger of having our lives altered by its presence. Even after he has been brutally murdered, the religious leaders still fear that Jesus will disrupt their lives by not staying put in the grave. Little did they know how well founded were their fears.

There are a number of tombs in which we lock up Jesus, even today. The most subtle and effective tomb that the enemy suggests to us is that of compartmentalization. We find it convenient to wall off our lives into various separate compartments, so that we can live our lives in the various arenas without interference from the others. So, at its extreme, we can have the murderous and ruthless Mafia don who is a loving family man and a regular participant in his religious community. Few of us are the same around our secular friends as we are when in the company of members of our church. Many of us are not comfortable speaking about the Jesus we laud and proclaim on Sunday morning in our everyday lives. We are content to leave Jesus locked up with the precious gold and silver vessels at the Church for the days between Sundays. Although we read the Word and pray daily, that encounter is often confined to a private counseling session in our prayer closet so that we can feel good about our day ahead.

How our lives would be changed if we unleashed Jesus in the midst of them. But, then again, perhaps that is the problem.

Give me the courage, Lord, to trust you with every aspect of my life. Help me to be faithful to you, O God, wherever I am and in whatever I am doing. Make me totally open to the transforming power of your Holy Spirit so that I can live a life of spiritual integrity and witness to your awesome and loving nature. Amen.

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